Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to implement the guidance set out by the Government Commercial Function in its paper entitled Exiting Major IT Contracts: Guidance for Departments, published in November 2017, in respect of (a) using market engagement, (b) setting up disaggregation work, (c) risk assessment, (d) developing a programme plan through the transition, (e) identifying the skills and capabilities that will be needed in the future and (f) any other work related to that guidance.

The Cabinet Office has a small number of Large Expiring IT Contracts. The large majority of Large Expiring IT Contracts that fall within the Government Commercial Function’s guidance are in other government departments.

The Cabinet Office has been providing support, using expertise from Complex Transactions (GCO), Infrastructure and Projects Authority and Government Digital Service. This Strategic Support Team, known as “SST”, has been assisting central government departments to align their Large Expiring Contracts with this guidance.